Minor hockey: Bantams hold their own at Crown

By Medicine Hat News on January 21, 2020.

NEWS FILE PHOTO

The South East Athletic Club’s bantam AAA Tigers were in Edmonton this past weekend for the Western Canadian Crown Elite Bantam Invitational, and they fared pretty well.

Though the Tigers might have a sub-.500 record in their local league, they went 3-2 at the Crown, with wins over B.C.’s Valley West Giants, Saskatoon’s Stallions and the Grande Prairie Storm.

Deegan Kinniburgh’s overtime power play goal earned a 4-3 win Thursday over Valley West. Following a 6-0 loss to Manitoba’s Rink Academy, the Tigers then beat Saskatoon 4-2.

A 6-1 loss to Calgary’s Edge academy kept South East from the medal round, but a solid 4-2 win over the Storm ended the weekend on a positive note.

Caleb Garrecht and Elias Eisenbarth each had four points in five games to lead SEAC, with Garrecht’s three goals and Josh Van Mulligen’s two the only ones to score more than once.

The Northern Alberta Xtreme won the tournament final 5-1 over Edge.

SEAC heads to Lethbridge Wednesday to face the Golden Hawks, before hosting Grande Prairie Saturday and ending the busy week with a road game in Calgary Sunday.

Midget 15’s

The SEAC midget 15-year-old team broke out of a six-game winless streak Sunday.

After falling 3-2 to Calgary Royals Gold Saturday, the Tigers returned home and beat the Edmonton South Side Athletic Club 6-4.

They never trailed on the day, Josh Drefs’ second of the game coming early in the third period and holding up as the winner. Kieran Christianson’s shorthanded empty-netter sealed it, but the real star of the game was goalie Kaiden Morin who made 43 saves, his team outshot by a 47-27 margin.

South East led 2-1 late Saturday but lost on a shorthanded goal with two seconds left. They outshot Calgary 45-28 and Drefs had a goal and an assist.

Midget AA

The Jasper Homes Hounds got a key win over the team chasing them in the standings as part of a 2-0 weekend.

The midget AA team beat Wheatland 5-4 Friday in Hussar, trailing 4-2 early in the second period before rallying.

Cayden Dumanowski got the winner with 5:33 to go. Brendan Olson made 21 saves while Kobyn Fritz, Mason Mowat, Cameron Hall and Vaughn Strutt had the other goals.

Medicine Hat followed up with a dominant 7-1 win over Foothills Sunday in High River, led by Caleb Irvine’s two goals. Olson only had to make 11 saves while Callen Prosofsky, Ty Moore, Tanner Gold, Hall and Dumanowski also tallied.

Bantam AA

The bantam AA Hounds lost all three of their road games this past weekend.

They fell 5-3 in Lethbridge Friday, 4-2 at Sylvan Lake Saturday against West Central, then 5-3 Sunday at Red Deer.

Peewee AA

Medicine Hat’s two peewee AA teams got set for a league rubber match with a pair of games each this past weekend.

Orange beat Lethbridge Hurricanes Red 5-2 Saturday, then tied Okotoks Oilers Green 5-5 Sunday.

Medicine Hat Black was felled 5-1 Saturday on home ice by the visiting Cranbrook Wings. They rebounded with an 8-3 win Sunday in Lethbriddge over Hurricanes White.

Black and Orange split their first two head-to-head league games way back in September. They’ll play again Saturday, 3:45 p.m. at the Moose.

Peewee girls

The Wildcats peewee girls team went 2-1 this past weekend.

After wins over Camrose (8-2 Saturday) and Red Deer (9-2 Saturday), the Hat team lost 3-2 to West Central Sunday.

Weekend scoring was led by Riley Gramlich’s seven goals. Keira Grant had four, Hayley Grad three, Keyana Bert three, Jailyn Painter two and Myla Motz one.